Thursday 022-26-15

Florida, the Freest State in the Country? Florida is the freest (or least unfree, depending on how you look at it) state in the United States? So says North Carolina's John Locke Foundation in its First in Freedom Index, which drew data from a range of sources and found that the state where alligators help keep the yowling, roaming kitty population under control is also notable for officials who generally stay out of your way. Arizona and Indiana round out the top three, while California, New Jersey, and New York serve, unsurprisingly, as black holes of bureaucratic suckage. John Locke Foundation Those of us familiar with the neverending jaw-drops provided by Florida police shenanigans, or simply with the presence of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona's Maricopa County, might be raising an eyebrow around now. But remember that cops in California, New Jersey, and New York are much more professional about their pervasive abuses. They can get through the business of strangling petty "criminals" and trumping up charges against political enemies without parading outrageous personalities in the process. Besides, the John Locke Foundation bypasses civil liberties issues to focus on fiscal policy, educational choice, regulatory incursions, and health care freedom. As a measure of relative restraint and leeway in those areas, it's a handy addition to various existing freedom rankings without displacing the role of other indexes. The First in Freedom Index actually draws from a lot of the sources that have been cited here before, including the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of North America as well as Mercatus Center's Freedom in the 50 States, the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index, and measures put together by the Center for Education Reform, among others. To this, the North Carolina group adds its own weight and emphasis. The ultimate score is an average across the categories it examines. Florida, for example, is in first place overall, but at 5 in terms of fiscal policy, 1 in educational freedom, 45 in regulatory freedom, and 30 in healthcare freedom. As with all of these measures, a lot depends on the authors' values, leaving a lot of room for dispute. That's why Mercatus's Freedom in the 50 States is my personal favorite of these projects, since it includes tools that let users personalize results to reflect their own preferences. That said, I find it interesting that top-rankers in all of these indexes tend to vary a bit depending on what's being measured and who is doing the weighting. It doesn't take a lot of policy variation to move a state up and down within the top half of an index that measures people's abilities to live their lives relatively free of state interference. But California, New York, and New Jersey always rank near the bottom of these lists as intrusive, red tape-bound hellholes. http://reason.com/blog/2015/02/23/florida-the-freest-state-in-the-country Formulas to get rid of insects in your home

ANTS To keep ants out of a house or a garden: sprinkle ground cinnamon around base of house. (I get the bulk cheap stuff works great no ants in 7 yrs!) You can also sprinkle it on ant beds, to kill the ants (or they will travel to your neighbors yards). For your garden: sprinkle concentrated lemon juice round the whole garden, keeps ants & insects out of garden. Both are ok to use if you have pets or little kids around, safe for all to use & you can get the kids to do it for you without worry! Contributed by Bunnewuv@aol.com ANTS formula 2: Ingredients: Boric Acid Sugar Cotton Balls Mix Boric Acid and Sugar in a bowl. Then soak Cotton ball in Mixture and let dry. Place Cotton balls in path of Ants.Contributed by Michelle Potter ANT TRAPS: Ingredients: 1/3 cup molasses 6 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons active dry yeast Mix ingredients together in a small bowl until they form a smooth past. Spread the mixture into plastic lid. Any old plastic container will do. Set the mixture near the mouth of ant hill. For kitchen areas, coat a strip of cardboard with the mixture and lay along floor or in crevices where ants travel. Works best with medium to large ants. Try substituting honey for the molasses. FLY REPELLANT (Day Time) Ingredients: Plastic Zip lock bags Water Paper clip Fill plastic zip lock bage 1/2 full with water punch smmall hole through Ziplock bag with paper clip and and thread it to the first loop Hag bag using paper clip where Flies are. MAKE YOUR OWN FLY PAPER Ingredients: 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon granulated sugar Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over strips of brown paper and let soak overnight. To hang, poke a hole in one end of a strip and tie a string to it. MOSQUITO/INSECT REPELLENT Formula 1: Ingrediance aloe vera gel essential oils of citronella tea tree oil lavender oil Stir all ingrediance together Mix becomes opaque. (make it as strong as y0u like) contributed by Lucy Formula 2: Ingredients 3 cups rubbing alcohol 1 1/2 cups red cedar wood shavings 1/2 cup eucalyptus leaves Mix ingredients together in a large bowl or jar. Cover and let stand 5 days. Strain the solid ingredients out and save the remaining liquid. Store tightly sealed. Yield: 2 cups. To use, pour into a small spray bottle and spray lightly on skin. Formula 3: Ingredients 1/4 cup denatured alcohol 1 1/2 teaspoons camphor 1 1/2 teaspoons calcium chloride Mix ingredients together in a bowl and stir until dissolved. To use, rub on skin before going outside, or pour into a small spray bottle and spray lightly on skin. CAUTION: Do not use near eyes. Discontinue use if you notice a rash or other allergic reaction. Formula 4: Ingredients Mix together: One ounce of either oil of citronella or pennyroyal Baby oil or vegetable oil, a few drops Citronella and pennyroyal can be found at most health food stores. Apply to skin before going outside. (Note: caution should be used with penny royal around or by pregnant women ) Formula 5: Ingredients Four parts glycerin 4 parts alcohol 1 part eucalyptus oil Or make a solution of equal parts of isopropyl alcohol and methyl phthalate. Avon's Skin-So-Soft Although some people swear by this product, I didn't find it to be particularly effective. The castor bean plant Seeds available from any nursery. Plant in pots within the house; replant outdoors. Decorative and they grow like weeds! (Please read note 1) Garlic Juice My grandson is allergic to any type of repellent with chemicals in it. So we use a mixture of Garlic juice and water. Use at least 1 part garlic juice to 5 parts water in a small personal size spray bottle. Works every time, works great in the woods, hubby forgot one day and had a terrible case of chiggers. We originally started to use this in our garden instead of poisons and decided to use it on ourselves since it worked so well. Contributed by Becky Holcomb, LHolc55865@aol.com ROACH EXTERMINATOR Mix the following: Borax, one pound Powdered sugar, 60 oz. One oz. cocoa powder Two oz. sodium fluoride Mix well and sprinkle around places pests are known to frequent. Keep out of reach of children! MOTH PAPER Melt together 4 parts naphthalene and 8 parts paraffin wax Paint on paper while still warm.

Note1:the castor bean contain ricin which is harmfull if eaten. PLEASE keep seeds out of the reach of children and pets.   http://www.make-stuff.com/formulas_&_remedies/home_&_hearth/insects.html